Priority Groundwater Management Areas

Program to identify areas of Texas experiencing, or expected to experience, critical groundwater problems and encourage the creation of groundwater conservation districts for those areas. Relevant reports, studies, maps, and rules.

Briscoe County - On October 8, 2013, the Executive Director filed a report with the Commission that identifies the western portion of Briscoe County in the Briscoe, Hale, and Swisher County PGMA that is not currently part of a GCD. The report recommends that the area be added to the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District #1 as the most feasible, practicable, and economic means to achieve groundwater management in the Briscoe, Hale, and Swisher County PGMA.

A preliminary hearing was held by the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) in Silverton, Texas on December 3, 2013. The SOAH judge took jurisdiction and determined the interested parties. A hearing on the merits was held by SOAH in Silverton, Texas on April 8, 2014. The SOAH judge filed a Proposal for Decision (PFD) with the Commission on July 11, 2014. On December 10, 2014, the Commission approved an Order recommending the western portion of Briscoe County in the Briscoe, Hale, and Swisher County PGMA be added to the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District No. 1 (HPWD). The HPWD board of directors voted not to add the Briscoe PGMA on March 13, 2015, and subsequent TCEQ action will be required. You can access information relevant to the matter on the Commissioners' Integrated Database using TCEQ Docket No. 2013-1467-WR.

Upton and Midland County - The Executive Director has completed a draft report that identifies an area in northeastern Upton County and southeastern Midland County, in the Reagan, Upton, and Midland Priority Groundwater Management Area (PGMA), that is not within a Groundwater Conservation District (GCD). The draft report evaluates five options for groundwater management and recommends the option to add northeastern Upton County and southeastern Midland County to Glasscock GCD as the most feasible, practicable, and economic means to achieve groundwater management in the Reagan, Upton, and Midland PGMA.

On October 15, 2014, the Executive Director mailed a Notice of Report Availability to identified water stakeholders in northeastern Upton County and southeastern Midland County to announce the availability of the draft report. The Executive Director respectfully requests review and consideration of the draft report and recommendation and will welcome written comments received before close of business on January 30, 2015. The report will be finalized after all written comments have been considered. Staff will provide a hard-copy of the draft report if requested. Please contact staff identified in the notice if you wish to be added to the stakeholder list or if you would like to receive a hard-copy of the stakeholder list.

What Is a PGMA ?

A Priority Groundwater Management Area (PGMA) is an area designated and delinated by TCEQ that is experiencing, or is expected to experience, within 50 years, critical groundwater problems including shortages of surface water or groundwater, land subsidence resulting from groundwater withdrawal, and contamination of groundwater supplies.

Since the ultimate purpose of designating a PGMA is to ensure the management of groundwater in areas of the state with critical groundwater problems, a PGMA evaluation will consider the need for creating groundwater conservation districts and different options for doing so. Such districts are authorized to adopt policies, plans, and rules that can address critical groundwater problems.

If a study area is designated as a PGMA, TCEQ will make a specific recommendation on groundwater conservation district creation. State law authorizes the citizens in the PGMA two years to establish a Groundwater Conservation District (GCD). However, if local action is not taken in this time frame, TCEQ is required to establish a GCD that is consistent with the original recommendation. Under either scenario, the resultant groundwater conservation district would be governed by a locally elected board of directors.

Rules

The PGMA process provided in Chapter 35 of the Texas Water Code is implemented by TCEQ rules that outline procedures for the designation of PGMAs and address issues related to the creation of GCDs in areas which have been designated as PGMAs. These TCEQ rules are contained in Title 30, Texas Administrative Code (TAC), §293.19 and §§294.41–294.44. The rules were amended in August 2012 to implement statutory changes made by the 82nd Legislature, 2011.

Studies, Study Areas, and Designated PGMAs

As of July 2009, 18 PGMA studies and five PGMA update studies have been completed. Eight study areas were determined to have, or were expected to have, critical groundwater problems and were designated as PGMAs:

GCD Recommendation Reports (Since 2008)

Dallam County Priority Groundwater Management Area: December 2008. The report and petition recommended that identified areas of the Dallam County PGMA be added to an existing GCD. On February 17, 2010, the Commission issued an Order recommending that all of the three areas that were not included in a GCD in the Dallam County PGMA be added to the North Plains GCD. In March 2012, the 2012 Addendum recommended that identified areas of the Dallam County PGMA be added to an existing GCD. On August 7, 2012, the Commission issued an Order adding the Dallam County PGMA areas to the North Plains GCD.

Hill Country Priority Groundwater Management Area: July 2010. The report and petition identified that the northwestern Comal County and southwestern Travis County portions of the PGMA were not in a groundwater conservation district. The report included a primary recommendation for Commission action to create a new three-county GCD to include the PGMA portions of Comal, Hays and Travis counties, and an alternative recommendation for Commission action to add the Comal PGMA territory to the Trinity Glen Rose Groundwater Conservation District and the Travis PGMA territory to the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District. The Executive Director filed the petition with the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) in October 2010 and withdrew the primary recommendation and advanced the alternative recommendation in November 2010. The SOAH hearing was abated from May 2011 to June 2013. The Executive Director filed a request with SOAH on January 7, 2014 to withdraw the petition, cancel the hearing, and remand the petition back to the Executive Director. The administrative law judges granted the Executive Director’s request on January 27, 2014.

GCDs Created in Designated PGMAs

Locally-initiated GCD (or "district") creation, or addition of territory to an existing district, has occurred in six of the designated PGMAs. Areas remain in four PGMAs that have not yet established a GCD. Successful district creation has not occurred in the designated parts of Briscoe, Comal, Dallas, Midland, Travis, and Upton counties.